Case From India, New Delhi: The third airport project in the National Capital Region

In late June of 2017, a full sixteen years after the idea was first floated, a site for an international airport outside Delhi was given in-principle clearance by the Indian government’s Ministry of Civil Aviation. This airport at Jewar is set to be a rather large airport, handling 30-50 million commuters per year through a total of four runways, and according to various sources, will take either 3000, 5000, or 10,000 hectares (30-100 km2
).

In late June of 2017, a full sixteen years after the idea was first floated, a site for an international airport outside Delhi was given in-principle clearance by the Indian government’s Ministry of Civil Aviation[1]
. This airport at Jewar is set to be a rather large airport, handling 30-50 million commuters per year through a total of four runways[2]
, and according to various sources, will take either 3000[3]
, 5000[4]
, or 10,000[5]
hectares (30-100 km2
).

This airport will have a significant human impact. In the first phase, nine villages are proposed to be moved, which, according to the chairperson of the development authority in charge of the airport, would require the shifting of 3000 rural homes[6]
. The full project, however, would require the displacement of 20 villages, a full 57,000 people[7]
.

The construction of this airport itself would be a large enough threat, considering the amount of people whose lives will be affected. However, the airport is only one piece in the transformation of the entire region of ‘Greater Noida’ into a hyperurbanised conglomerate – partly an industrial belt, partly an extension of Delhi, and partly an ‘aerotropolis’ (a complete urban setup encircling and directed towards an airport). As such, the airport represents a new nodal point for the ongoing transformation of an entire area. Several aspects of this transformation would likely have occurred without the airport, however the provision of the airport creates a focal point for the rapid expansion of such plans. It allows for accelerated acquiring of vast tracts of land both in the land allotted for the airport and the surrounding land; it provides much easier accessibility to the industrial belt for foreign investors and thus would likely accelerate the pace of industrial development; and provides additional stimulus to other planned transport infrastructures, such as an extension of the Delhi Metro (which will stimulate further land acquisition and urbanisation of the surrounding areas).